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Blockchain is a decentralised and distributed digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers with a view to facilitate secure online proceedings. It’s a technology that’s in its infancy, meaning general understanding of blockchain is fairly ambiguous, despite its potential being so vast.

Berlin-based designer Elias Hanzer adapts his style depending on the project and works best when “everyone involved is excited about the task and is open to new things”. With a series of publications, typefaces and a poster series added to his portfolio since the last time we checked in with the designer, it’s clear Elias has been pushing his approach and experimenting with his methods.

“With a brief about creativity and criminality, a graphical direction referencing spray paint and street-art was initially exactly what we didn’t want do to,” explains Antwerp-based design studio Mirror Mirror, “but we kept returning to it, thinking to ourselves: ‘It’s a cliche not to use a cliche’.” This year, the multi-disciplinary studio was tasked with creating the visual identity for Integrated 2017 and its answer was a series of faux-in-situ visuals and a “post-real” poster campaign.

When we saw that Hezin O had produced a beautifully illustrated calendar for 2018, we had to get in touch and find out more. The calendar is compiled of 12 separate tearaway cards which can be hung so as to function like a calendar or used as single prints. Each card features a central illustration, the dates of the month framing it and the number/first letter of the month in the top left and bottom right corners.

We first covered the work of graphic designer Erich Brechbühl way back in 2012. Since then he’s been making moves in the poster design world, helping to create a solid design community in Lucerne – one that’s beginning to have an impact outside of Switzerland.

Singapore-based studio Do Not Design produces broad ranging graphic design. From ideas for brands to designing a website or a publication, its ability to mould to the brief at hand means the studio’s work can be found all over the globe, online or in person.

Multidisciplinary artist Beni Bischof’s latest book Bambi is the result of him watching the 1942 Disney classic, Bambi for four weeks straight and painting hundreds of works while sitting in front of the screen. “I didn’t want to illustrate the movie. I just wanted to paint while watching and hearing the movie. The words, colours and shapes make up the paintings and I took everything I thought of and expressed it somehow on the paper,” explains the Swiss artist.

The official magazine of the Bauhaus Centenary in 2019 has begun its biannual run, and rather than focusing entirely on the historical, it aims to “deal with modernity as an attitude instead of a style”. Bauhaus Now is designed by Berlin studio Stan Hema, which also designed the visual identity for the entire centenary. Its aesthetic aims to convey the magazine’s remit to analyse the ethos of the iconic German school and movement in a contemporary context.

Derek Brahney set up his studio in Brooklyn after working freelance for a few years as a way to officially separate his commercial work from his artistic practice. “I had gotten to the point where I could finally (barely) afford to rent a small studio space, which felt like somewhat of a milestone,” Derek explains. So when he acquired his new studio he decided to celebrate the fact and name it New Studio, of course.

“I’ve never taken my foot off the gas,” says Ewen Spencer, a photographer known for his nostalgic and candid shots of youth culture. “I make these pictures essentially for myself, and one of the reasons they succeed and aren’t obnoxious is, we’ve all been there. I certainly have.”

Blockchain is a decentralised and distributed digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers with a view to facilitate secure online proceedings. It’s a technology that’s in its infancy, meaning general understanding of blockchain is fairly ambiguous, despite its potential being so vast.

The team behind Brick magazine have long impressed us with a triple threat of head-pivoting design skills, attention-holding written features and a proven knack for securing hip hop talent: Wiz Khalifa made it onto the cover of issue one, and the magazine has become a who’s who of hip hop’s finest nascent and established stars ever since.

“I believe graphic design can change the world,” opens Lucienne Roberts from GraphicDesign&, speaking with Rebecca Wright at Nicer Tuesdays. The two – Lucienne a designer and Rebecca an educator – who run the publishing house, recently co-curated and designed the Wellcome Collection’s Can Graphic Design Save Your Life? show. Let loose on the institution’s vast archive, the pair discovered hundreds of items that spotlight design’s influence on human health over centuries.From vintage cigarette packaging to wartime condom wrappers, and more contemporary examples of pioneering creative schemes to combat health issues, the material Lucienne and Rebecca flit through in this talk is fascinating and enlightening. “We wanted to invite people in, and be provocative. It’s bold, it lays its cards on the table. Designers aren’t just involved in the subtlety of messages, they’re playful and part of the relationship with the viewer, that can sometimes be surprising.”

A new magazine launched by British-Indian journalist Debika Ray reflects on the diversity and cultural phenomena of South Asia, and the spread of its influence worldwide. Focusing on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, as well as its vast global diaspora, Clove covers everything from art, film, photography, design and music to political, architectural and culinary movements.

Oslo-based design student Simen Royseland has published a zine called Enchiridion, inspired by the ancient Greek philosophy Stoicism – a philosophy of personal ethics informed by a system of logic and views on the natural world. “I was trying to get a sense of my own interpretation of its ideas, and then came upon the concept of Enchiridion – a small book containing condensed information on a subject – and it kinda became obvious I had to make my own,” says Simen on his inspiration for the project.

Jordy van den Nieuwendijk is like an old pal who comes to visit us from time to time. Over the course of his career we have written about his joy-filled paintings countless times, always charmed by his distinct wit and smile-inducing colour palette. So, of course when Jordy let us know of a new show Time Out — Knock Out at Ninasagt in Düsseldorf, we were bowled over by his work yet again.

Catalogue Library is back with the eighth issue of its “up-to-date representation of varied design and art practices from around the world,” – Library Paper. “Giving readers an insight into the artist’s process,” previous issues focused on “romance” and “the new” and this time Catalogue Library settled on the theme of “trips”. Although this could be interpreted at “trippy”, it also denotes a literary trip somewhere, or a literal journey through the publication.

Belly dancers are one of the most popular of Turkish cultural exports, but somewhere in recent history, zennes — male belly dancers — have been forgotten. “They have been part of Turkey’s culture for a long time. I always watched them on TV, especially on New Year’s Eve,” photographer Olgaç Bozalp explains. Now, zenne dancers are few and far between. “I am guessing it’s not appropriate in the public eye anymore,” Olgaç reasons. “I think people in Turkey are interested their performances as it’s an old tradition, but I’m not sure if every family would support their son to be a male belly dancer.”

Alex Grigg’s animated short film Born in a Void is utterly enveloping – not least because of the hypnotic use of perspective, shape and colour the animator used to create an interstellar landscape. This, partnered with the jazz-infused soundtrack, create a unique world for Alex’s abstract characters.

There are multiple reasons why people may visit It’s Nice That. Maybe to catch up on the creative industries, to research into new illustrators, photographers or graphic designers, or maybe just to procrastinate while they’re at work. Whatever the reason, we hope our readers enjoy themselves and are guaranteed a nice, positive time. So when we were asked to design a watch in collaboration with Timex, encapsulating this feeling in a time-based way was our main concern.

What do you get when you combine the genie of a lamp living with a bunch of floating eggs? A brilliantly weird animation by Andrew Onorato called Geenie Reenie, that’s what. “The short is about Genie Reenie checking his emails and helping out his friend Dozen, who is a bunch of eggs,” explains Andrew. “They all live together in a house with their friends, some of whom don’t feature in this short.”

Lecture in Progress inspires and informs the next generation of talent with advice, insight and first-hand accounts that demystify the day-to-day workings of the creative industry. Parts of the Process is a series of articles exploring how creative projects unfold – from briefing stage through to the techniques that bring ideas to life.

Courage is one of the foremost characteristics any graduate needs when they leave school or university. This is often true of the creative industry more than many other trades as students are expected to get out there, show off their work and network despite never really doing it before. This expectation of courage is the focus of a new calendar by students in Eike König’s class at HfG Offenbach and includes some familiar illustration faces, but also a host of very, very exciting new talent.

More than a manufacturer of city-friendly cars, smart sees itself as a concept born to shake up the status quo. The outlet for the brand’s message smart magazine, which describes itself as “a place for stories about visionaries and creative urbaneers, about projects and initiatives that help to improve life in the city.”

It’s a world which reaches far, far beyond cars. smart magazine has positioned itself as an expert on experimental urban architecture with a suite of articles on vertical gardening, a concept which frees up space in busy cities and has hugely positive environmental affects at the same time. Win/win! We’ve rounded up three articles from smart magazine, which will tell you everything you need to know about vertical gardening and why it has the power to keep our cities clean.

Dani Pujalte’s series Cultural Containers documents a host of newly created cultural spaces which have jeopardised autonomous culture on budgetary grounds. The included photos portray a considered and mediated approach which convey Dani’s opinions on the ostentation politics which have meant many of these buildings have not been completed.

When looking through the projects of Russian-born, American-raised photographer Irina Rozovsky the immediate theme is the global ground she has covered with her camera. From Yugoslavia to a three year ongoing project in the US, then to Cuba and Israel before heading back to her birth place Russia, Irina’s lens doesn’t have many boundaries in terms of its content.

Berlin-based designer Elias Hanzer adapts his style depending on the project and works best when “everyone involved is excited about the task and is open to new things”. With a series of publications, typefaces and a poster series added to his portfolio since the last time we checked in with the designer, it’s clear Elias has been pushing his approach and experimenting with his methods.

Social media pedestals the here and now, networks lure us in with a never-ending scroll of breaking news. YouTube is a battleground for saw-it-first comments, but dig past trending videos and you’ll find a community who trade memories of a hazy, half-remembered past. In the comments section of ‘90s rave anthems linger a group of ex-ravers who have passed up nights spent in sweating in fields for suburban lives in satellite towns. The pills have long worn off, but the comedown lingers in the bittersweet memories which come alive when they close their eyes.

Photographer Robert Rutoed has spent the last 10 years on “an expedition through the grotesque realm of must-haves and mega-trends.” For the past decade the Austrian photographer has visited trade shows and exhibitions across the world and documented what he saw. He has now published the series Fair(y) Tales, which is a whistlestop and frequently bizarre romp that takes a peek into the commercialised worlds of undertaking, sex, cattle and more. It’s Nice That caught up with Robert to find out more.

London-based illustrator David Biskup’s work has that quality that many strive for but not all achieve: it is instantly recognisable. Through a combination of simple shapes, consistent lines and block colours he creates Where’s Wally-esque busy scenes that are full of humour and intrigue. We featured some of David’s work nearly three years ago and since then he has been getting commission after commission whilst expanding his personal practice.

This week’s Best of the Web is coming to you from a very chilly place indeed, but it’s ok – we’ve got jumpers, thick socks and warm crumpets on the go, so we’re at optimum hygge level or whatever the 2017 equivalent for cosiness is. For this week’s addition, we’ve got a response to Trump for using Comic Sans in a statement (smh), a look at 100 years of public health marketing and a video interview with Jay Z from The New York Times.

“With a brief about creativity and criminality, a graphical direction referencing spray paint and street-art was initially exactly what we didn’t want do to,” explains Antwerp-based design studio Mirror Mirror, “but we kept returning to it, thinking to ourselves: ‘It’s a cliche not to use a cliche’.” This year, the multi-disciplinary studio was tasked with creating the visual identity for Integrated 2017 and its answer was a series of faux-in-situ visuals and a “post-real” poster campaign.

Wanderer follows the thoughts of a man and his struggles to stay grounded in a moment. Animated by Chicago-based Alex Moy, we’re invited into the protagonist’s world and we begin to “pick up on the very small ticks of the room around him”, leading to a “visual rhythm that hypnotises the viewer”. Throughout the animated short reality becomes blurred and the idea we’re travelling through someone’s conscious is reinforced.

This week’s Friday Mixtape is curated by Jake Chapman. Known mainly as one half of revered and purposefully shocking YBA sibling duo Jake and Dinos Chapman, today the artist lets us in on his musical tastes and introduces us to his band, Funhole.